The beginning of the end of the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory began with the release of a report by Orange County officials detailing all the potential hazards of the abandoned facility. With all the negatives laid out, and the place being labeled a “death trap,” the absentee landlord (he apparently lived in Pasadena) had no option but to invest a lot of money to totally upgrade the building or take the cheaper way out and demolish the building and sell the land. Unfortunately, he chose the latter, but considering the times it’s hard to blame him. So the Los Alamitos Sugar Factory, the only reason a town was founded in 1896 on what had been a flood-prone, out-of-the way coy0te den, good only for grazing cattle and sheep, began to be torn down piece by piece over most of 1960.
The one interesting new fact to me in this article was the mention of a 1948 raid by sheriffs on a gambling den operating in the building. We have looked at old LA Times and can’t find any contemporary mention of this. If anyone has any further knowledge of this, please post or let u know through email.
SANTA ANA—Orange County supervisors have taken official note of a purported potential death trap near Los Alamitos and asked county and legal officials for recommendations as to what should be done.
A report submitted by the county sheriff’s office and the Building department against a former sugar beet factory at Cerritos and Katella Avenues. brought on the action which could lead to a condemnation.
Sheriff’s officers have termed the three story warehouse as an attractive nuisance to children in the area and recently led other county officials on a tour of the brick structure.
During the tour the officials said they found:
A quantity of dust, cotton rags and paper creating a grave fire hazard.
Other Hazards
Wooden stairways weak from age.
Leaking water pipes.
A power fuse box that had been short-circuited by pacing a metal bar across the terminals, shorting out all the electrical circuits in the building.
Catwalks that are three stories up and are open to the ground floor.
A sump hole 9 feet deep outside the building which is filled with water during heavy rains.
A sump hole 9½ feet deep and 90 feet long full of oil and water which is open in two places.
Abandoned 13 years
Several bricks which had fallen and more in danger of falling.
Hot wiring in the building and unlocked fuse boxes.
The warehouse was abandoned as a factory 13 years ago. Later it was used to store army surplus equipment and in 1948 was raided by sheriff’s officers as a gambling den.
A couple notes to fill in some gaps in this story. The January 31, 1949 issue of the Press-Telegram ran a short article “Inventor Building New Light Motor Car at Alamitos Plant.” Much of the copy of the article we saw is unreadable, but we could make out the words “the old Los Alamitos Sugar Co. Plant” and “folding rotor blades” which piqued our interest.
On July 3, 1960, the P-T ran another headline and some photos: “SWEET MEMORIES: Wreckers Nibble Away Sugar Mill.” The photo caption read: HAVE REDUCED old sugar factory at Los Alamitos to a skeleton. The big smokestack featured in the photo at right showing the before demolition began will linger two weeks as a passing monument to the mill’s former glory.” The story said Demolition Contractor Ira Koontz said the plant will be totally gone in about a month… with the big smokestacks to be felled in “about two week.s”
On October 6, 1960, the P-T ran another article. “AND THE STUBBORN STACK STILL STANDS…” Spectators who gathered to witness the Los Alamitos Sugar stack in its final earthshaking plunge start home as dynamiters give up, planning another try today. The stack, it’s upper reaches reoccupied by the birds, was still proudly erect as the sun sank slowly over Signal Hill.
